i'm carol costello. we begin in washington today where president obama will play host to mitt romney this afternoon andn what could be one of the most anticipated meals in the nation's capital since thanksgiving. white house correspondent dan lothian joins me now. so, i don't know. i would love to be a fly on the wall. wouldn't you? >> no cameras allowed inside for this lunch. this is something the president said he wanted to do in his victory speech, sit down with mitt romney and talk about moving the country foor. you look back to a few weeks ago when both these candidates were going at each other, the president criticizing mitt romney, the 47% for his connection to bain capital, moving jobs overseas. mitt romney hitting the president for his handling of the economy, saying in essence the president had set the economy on a reverse course, put it in reverse. now they're sitting down. most likely it will be a much different tone this time around. the president has said there are things he would like to t

i'm deb feyerick in for carol costello.tories we are watching right now for you in the "newsroom." train in new jersey is derailed after a bridge collapse. it was carrying toxic and flammable chemicals. residents in the entire community of paulsboro are being asked to stay inside and keep their windows closed while the coast guard works on cleaning up the scene. we'll bring you more information as soon as we have it. >>> decriminalizing marijuana is paying off with fewer arrests for juveniles. number of people under age 18 arrested for marijuana possession is now at record lows. >>> scientists say the ice covering greenland and antarctica is melting fast er than originally thought. five times faster than in the 1990s. all that melted ice has caused global sea levels to rise nearly half an inch in the past decade. >>> cyber bullying is every parents' fear. amanda todd how deadly online bullying can be. cyber detective. >> i've got a problem that needs to be fixed. >> what is it? >> i am being bullied online. >> i'll take the

i'm carol costello. we begin with breaking news. a possible cease fire about to take hold in the israel/gaza conflict. the news comes from egypt's president, trying to broker a truce. minutes ago he declared that israel will soon halt its air strikes on gaza. along egypt's border with gaza, reza sayeh. tell us more. >> reporter: we don't want to jump to conclusions. we should be very cautious. there are growing signs from where we are standing in egypt that there could a closing in on a truce or cease fire. latest sign is a statement made by egyptian president mohamed morsi, according to state tv. he said that, quote, israeli gra aggression would end on tuesday. that, of course, is today. that's consistent with similar statements we've heard from other officials late last night. we spoke with a senior egyptian official and he told us he's optimistic that in the next 24 hours there would be a cease fire. hamas officials are being even more specific. senior hamas official telling cnn that israel has agreed

i'm carol costello. it's 30 minutes past the hour.david petraeus may have saved him from facing senators over the deadly attack in libya for now. he's not expected to attend the cia hearing. acting director mike morell will attend instead. it's unknown if lawmakers will subpoena david petraeus at a later date. >>> janet napolitano toured the devastation in staten island, new york, yesterday. right now, more than 88,000 customers still without power. 113 people have died. >>> there's a diplomatic milestone to report for war-torn syria. the u.s. is formally announcing its support for the unified national support and better plan for a post-assad future. >>> the parent of a missing american journalist are in the middle east this morning seeking his release. they fear for his life. austin tice last talked to his family three months ago. he was in syria reporting on the civil war and he has not been heard from since. austin's parents, mark and deborah tice, are in beirut, lebanon, trying to get some answers. welcome to you both. >> thank yo

i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. so far, 16 people in gaza and israel are dead as violence escalates in the middle east. this time it could lead to a new war in that region. over the past 24 hours, palestinian military groups say israel launched more than 75 strikes for warplanes and ships, including the strike your looking at right there, which was actually posted on youtube and twitter. this strike on a car that killed the chief of hamas' military. now the two sides have fired dozens of rockets at one another. israel claims its defending its cities, following ongoing rocket attacks by palestinian militants. israel's military says it's targeting 100 sites across gaza. i know, youf heard this all before. this time it's different. because egypt is not happy with with israel. it's already reached out to president obama and told him, we must put an end to this aggression. sarah seidner is in the region and has the latest for us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. yes, the number of those who ha

i'm carol costello. we peer over the nation's so-called fiscal cliff. it's a term you'll be hearing a lot more of. we're just 53 days from a series of extreme tax hikes and spending cuts. they're so severe both parties warn they could cripple the economy and trigger another recession. just a few hours from now, president obama underscores the urgency at the white house. his remarks could set the tone for upcoming negotiations with republican lawmakers. christine romans shows us how your money is in play. is your paycheck about to shrink? brianna keilar, three days after a bitter election, is either party really ready to budge? christine, nearly every american has money riding on this outcome, right? >> absolutely. the overall american economy does, too. let's talk about what the fiscal cliff is. starting in the beginning of the year because of a deal the congress did last year to raise the debt ceilings, all these things will go into play at the same time, big spending cuts, bush tax cuts expire, minimum

i'm carol costello. cnn "newsroom" with ashley banfield continues after the break.rine® cleans virtually your entire mouth. so take your oral health to a whole new level. listerine®... power to your mouth™. without freshly-made pasta. you could also cut corners by making it without 100% real cheddar cheese. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's.

i'm carol costello. new death toll and deepening concern from hurricane sandy three days after the storm washed ashore. here is a time lapsed video. that's what you're look iing at right now. watch the right side of your screen as the new york city skyline is plunged into darkness. there it goes. today, nearly 5 million homes and businesses are still without power. the death toll is inching up again. superstorm blamed for 56 deaths in the united states. half the victims just in new york city. the mayor says he expects that number to rise. officials say it is a miracle no one died in the firestorm that burned 111 homes to the ground in queens. likely cause? broken lines of natural gas. dozens of those fires still burn in several states. we'll have more on that in a minute. >>> last of the patients are now evacuated from new york's bellevue hospital. national guard troops lined the stair dels well to usher out more than 700 patients. soldiers call themselves, quote, a human bucket brigade. >>> jersey shore

newsroom" with carol costello and see everyone tomorrow on "starting point." carol, good morning. >>> good morning. today, barrier island barely recognizable. democrats and republicans set aside their differences to rush emergency aid to the storm zone. one lawmaker says not so fast. he said we should learn from the aid given to the victims of hurricane katrina. >> gucci bags and massage parlors and everything you can think of. >> we will hear more from iowa congressman steve king straight ahead. >>> likely target, school's former president, why he could be charged with perjury. >>> plus this -- >> when negative ads and robo calls quit working, the political campaigns show up on doorsteps in ohio. what's it like to be a door-to-door campaign volunteer? newsroom starts now. >>> good morning. thank you so much for joining us. i'm carol costello. new death toll and deepening concern from hurricane sandy three days after the storm washed ashore. here is a time lapsed video. that's what you're look iing at right now. watch the right side of your screen as the new yo

i'm carol costello. new flashpoint in the isra israel/gaza conflict threatens to implode today's peace talks. a bomb rips apart a bus in tel aviv, israel's second largest city. 22 people injured and tensions rise again across the region. hamas praises the attack. it's not claiming responsibility. in gaza, streets are empty as civilians brace for the israeli response. so far, secretary of state hillary clinton, the challenge of brokering a cease fire, it grows even more daunting this morning. more on those diplomatic efforts in a minute. first the latest details on that bus attack. sara sidner is on the phone from tel aviv. what's the latest, sara? >> reporter: where the victims of this bus attack are. we know that now 22 people have been injured. some of those were inside the bus, some of the people were outside of the bus. there are two very serious injuries, both of them teenagers according to hospital officials here and they are doing surgery as we speak. what we dough do know is that so far doctors a

i'm carol costello, come toug live. >> and i'm suzanne malveaux. welcome to "cnn newsroom." >>> barack obama and mitt romney have been working toward this moment for months. >> if you can't seem to remember the policies on your own website, then you might have romneysia. >> sparring every step of the way. >> they've been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games. >> we're live across the country, covering the candidates and the final appeals to swing state voters. >> we can't afford to wait four more years. >> the american people are bringing their country back. >> this is cnn's coverage of election day in america, the fight for the presidency. the battle for congress and the issues dividing the nation. >> i still believe in you. and if you still believe in me, i'm asking for your vote. >> i need to you go out there and find people that will come join our cause. >> it's your vote, your future, your country your choice. >>> today 90 million americans will head to the polls. that includes the men on the ballot, republican nominee mitt romney vote

i'm carol costello. we're about one minute away from the opening bell of the new york stock exchange. stocks looking slightly higher after yesterday's disturbing sell off. alison kosik is in new york. things looking better? >> it is looking better. a much calmer day on wall street after the dow's biggest sell off of the year. those worries about europe's debt crisis, those are responsible for part of the selling you saw yesterday. the other part was wall street kind of realizing that president obama's re-election means there will be tougher regulation down the road for the financial industry. now today, we got a sliver of better news out of europe with the greek parliament, agreeing to another round of spending cuts. and that means that greece can get another round of international loans. that could keep stocks in the green today. here at home, investors are going through the latest weekly jobless claims report. what it showed was a job of 8,000 for first-time claims for unemployment benefits. the thing

"cnn newsroom" with carol costello begins right now. good morning, carol. >> oh, my gosh! okay. i'll take it. >> don't ask. move smoothly into your program, carol. >> an alabama fan -- >> carol, i'm telling you -- >> i've got you. i'm moving on. good morning, soledad. >> time to move. >> oh, roland. >>> story wooers watching right now in the newsroom. shocking twist. yet another highly respected decorated general caught up in the petraeus sex scandal. this time it's the man in charge of u.s. troops in afghanistan. and more than an affair? searching the home of mistress paula broadwell. >>> fashion faux pas. known for its runway shows but racism in the briefest of briefs? >>> we talk to michigan state head coach tom izzo live this hour. "newsroom" starts now. >>> and good morning from washingt washington. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining us. this morning, a shocking new development in the sex scandal that toppled one of the most respect respected men in washington. now it has snared another top general, john allen, commander of all international troops in afghani

i'm carol costello. counting down and knotted up.before americans head to the polls, the slightest ripple could decide a presidential race too close to call. according to our new cnn/orc poll, barack obama and mitt romney are tied at 49% among likely voters. and today that has both men racing across key battleground states. just last hour, we carried romney's speech at a florida rally. next hour, we'll hear from obama. he's in wisconsin. as you can see in red, romney now travels on to virginia, ohio and new hampshire. president obama in blue goes from wisconsin to all-important ohio and finally to iowa. but let's begin with the obama camp. white house correspondent dan lothian is at the president's first stop in madison, wisconsin. dan, we're going to ask you this morning to read the tea leaves. two reasons for confidence in each camp and one reason for doubt. so, obama's number one reason for confidence is the ground game. and another reason, many say he has a better message for the middle class. expound. >> reporter: that's right.

i'm joined by carol costello in columbus, ohio. ittle cold this morning, carol. >> reporter: it is pretty cold, but i'm telling you people here in ohio are happy, john, because ohio's long election night is finally over. now when they watch television they can see cheesy car commercials and they are very, very happy about that. what issue was it that won ohio for obama? it was the auto industry bailout. people here, especially in the northern and upper half of the state, supported the auto industry because many of them work in the auto industry. they think the bailout helped save their jobs. and talking about attack ads, can you issue one attack ad too many? i think so. and i think the election in ohio proved that. the romney campaign released that ad and judd avalon knows about that saying they are going to move jobs. a lot of voters didn't like being lied to in that particular way. a lot of voters told me that's why they voted. ohio put obama over the top and was a deciding state once again. >> everyone was so concerned about the

i'm carol costello. 27 minutes past the hour. this latest round of attacks between the israelis and the palestinians is the most intense in three years which leads us to the question, why now? hamas wants israel to end its long blockade of gaza, that's why. gaza has been under siege since 2007. that means israel controls all goods entering the gaza strip, including weapons. and israel strictly enforces that blockade. in recent years israeli's military has boarded ships and halted shipments bound for gaza. an author and scholar focusing on the western world of islam joins us now from new york. good morning. >> good morning. >> so the reason israel controls goods and movement in and out of gaza is to disrupt the ruling party in gaza, which is hamas. of course, the u.s. considers hamas to be a terrorist organization. but the question this morning is, why does hamas think this is the right time to flex its muscle, for lack of a better term? >> well, hamas is facing an enormous amount of pressure both domestically and internationally.

i'm carol costello. we begin with the so-called fiscal cliff. 36 days from the crisis. new signs of just how concerned lawmakers really are. more republican lawmakers now say they will work toward a compromise, even if they have to break a promise not to raise taxes. that promise, that pledge, the brain child of anti-tax activist grover norquist, a long-time power broker in the gop. but the vote faced its first test last week when senator saxby chambliss said he was ready to break the promise. congressman king -- now senator lindsey graham has become the latest republican to say he would violate the pledge if democrats also showed willingness to rein in the nation's debt. >> i want to buy down debt and cut rates to create jobs. i will violate the pledge, long story short, for the good of the country. only if democrats will do entitlement reform. >>> >> let's bring in cnn political editor paul steinhauser. three republican lawmakers. it's not exactly a rebellion, right? >> not a rebellion yet. grover norq

joined now by carol costello who is live this morning in columbus, ohio. bit of a different feeling there this morning. >> oh, things are so much calmer now. but as you said, john, it was ohio, ohio, ohio yesterday. voters were excited to get to the polls. i spent most of my day yesterday in hamilton county in the southwestern portion of the state near cincinnati and voter turnout was extraordinarily high. i'm now in columbus, which is the center of the state, and i decided to get the newspapers for you because i'm an old-fashioned kind of gal and i thought you'd want to see the headlines. the first one says obama wins ohio. can you see that? and a second edition will come out later today, the best is yet to come. and this headline is really telling. because ohioans are really hoping the best is yet to come. mostly voters voted for obama because he supported the auto bailout. a lot of them kept their jobs because of that bailout. there was that really negative ad released by the romney campaign that sort of turned voters off here, because that campaign ad s

carol costello is live in blue ash, ohio, which is right near cincinnati. good morning, carol. i see voters behind you. >> you think there's no enthusiasm to vote this year? you would be wrong, john berman. this is blue ash, ohio, and hamilton county, ohio. a traditionally republican county. and take a look at all the people filling this polling station already. they started lining up by car, at about 5:30 this morning. in fact, i just talked to one voter. her name was linda. it was after she voted, of course. and she told me she was so excited to vote she actually woke up at 11:00 last night thinking that she missed the voting. she tried to vote this weekend in early voting. the lines were too long, so she was very nervous about getting here and actually casting her ballot. she said it's time for a change and she really wanted to cast her ballot to change the country for the better. as you know, the big rub here in ohio will be the provisional ballot. if there's a problem in your registration or you applied for an absentee ballot and you decided to vote in person you're going

i'm carol costello. is your dream worth two bucks? it is for millions of americans, snapping up tickets for tonight's drawing of the powerball lottery. the jackpot, a jaw-dropping half a billion dollars. that's a billion with a b. >> i'm going to be 80. i can't never live to spend that kind of money. >> i can't conceive what it would be like. it's always good to dream. >> i could skoconceive it. cnn's alison kosik is at a convenience store in new york. i would have expected a long line. >> reporter: you know what? there isn't a long line here. people are stepping up to the counter buying powerball tickets. not buying a lot, in great, great numbers but enough because all you really need is one. right, carol? >> that's true. all you need is one. >> reporter: i don't know where to go. i'm circling around here. >> have you bought your ticket yet? >> reporter: i did. i d i bought it this morning. i only bought one. i believe one is all you need. think about the odds. they're really, really slim. really low. 1

i am carol costello.pitol hill right now answering questions from the senate intelligence committee on the attacks in benghazi. specifically what the cia knew and when. petraeus testified in front of a house committee earlier this morning. peter king was there and he came out of that committee meeting and here is what he said. >> general petraeus' testimony today was from the start he had told us this was a terrorist attack or terrorist-involved from the start. i told him my questions had a different recollection of that and the clear impression given was that the overwhelming matter of evidence is that it was a arose out of a spontaneous demonstration and was not a terrorist attack. and it pointed out the following week when matt olsen said it was a terrorist attack and made headlines because until then the administration was saying it was not terrorists. it was very cordial if you will. general petraeus is now standing patriot. we shook hands before and afterwards. we all thanked him for his service, bu

i'm carol costello. it is black friday. some 147 million americans are hitting the stores on this weekend after thanksgiving. lines are long. tempers short. >> push one of my kids i will stab one of you [ bleep ]. >> police in south sacramento responded to the store where that happened and they were able to calm things down, but as you can see, long lines may not be the only thing waiting for you at the stores this morning. many walmart workers are now walking off the job in stores across the country. this is a live -- actually, are these taped images from wjla? these are live pictures from our washington affiliate, landover, maryland. these are striking walmart workers, who originally organized in a parking lot two blocks from a walmart store and now they're on their way over to that store. we don't know exactly what they're going to do once they get there. will they block shoppers on their way in, protest across the street? we'll have to wait and see. renee marsh is in landover hills, maryland, where those workers are hea

he was speaking with carol costello when it all happened.in the sky you probably won't be able to see it here, there's an interceptor missile taking off right now. that is the iron dome ber septemberor. if you just saw the flash in the sky, that was a rocket coming out of gaza that was just intercepted right now. it appears as though at this point in time there is another barrage being fired from gaza into this part of israel close to the israeli border, and as i was just telling you, there town here on the border is one that does take a lot of fire very frequently. fred plankton is live near the israeli-gaza border. this is not the only time you've had to hit the deck. are things getting worse? are they escalating as the evening goes on? >> well, it seems as though right now it's quieted down for a little while. you never know how long that's going to last. i'm actually in the town of ascalom now. this town has also received several baurages of rockets throughout the day. four rockets came into this place. three of them were intercepted by

carol costello is live in blue ash, ohio, just outside cincinnati. good morning. >> i'm still getting over dixville notch. can you imagine if it tied in ohio? we'd be waiting a long time for the winner of this election. we do not want that to happen. i'm in harts location. the president hoping for the same result. mitt romney and the republicans have a better ground game this time, they're getting people out to vote and here at blue ash, the polling station will open at 6:30 a.m. eastern time. they're expected to be chock full of voters. mostly republican because as you know, early voting has been a hit here in ohio, almost 1.8 million people have already voted. they either early voted or they voted by absentee. the big rub here is the provisional ballot. if you head made a mistake on your registration form or decided i was going to vote absentee, you'll be handed a provisional ballot. you'll have to fill out that provisional ballot all by yourself. one mistake means it's thrown out. we're waiting for a 6:30 a.m. eastern time for people to fill this

i'm carol costello, and thank you for being with us.newsroom," and just ahead, the superstorm sandy, and the misery of long lines and short tempers and the staggering estimates of what it will cost us. politic pocketbooks and the new numbers are out, and the presidential campaigns are all in four days before the election. mitt romney and barack obama present their closing arguments, and we are sharing their cnn op-ed posted just this morning on cnn.com. both men offering competing visions to win your vote. here is a little bit of the rival messages that went online on our website this morning. president obama rallying around superstorm sandy and a government response that has been earning praise frankly. the op-ed, quote, the petty differences that consume us in normal times quickly melt away. there are no democrats or republicans in the storm, only fellow americans, and that is how we get through the most trying times, together. end quote. governor romney instead writing about the trying times of a troubled economy. quote, we have been

i'm carol costello. happy thanksgiving. thank you for being with us.between israel and hamas appears to be holding near the gaza border, israeli soldiers are packing up and heading home. in gaza, the leader of hamas is calling the cease fire with israel a victory. >>> as many as 33 homes in an indianapolis subdivision are slated for demolition by the end of the year following that explosion there earlier this month according to "the indianapolis star." two people died in the blast. the explosion leveled several homes and damaged several others. homes will be torn down over the next two weeks in fear that they could collapse. >>> president obama talks about the blessings we share as americans. >> thanksgiving is a chance to put it all in perspective. to remember that despite our differences we are, and always will be, americans first and foremost. today we give thanks for blessings that are all too rare in this world, the ability to spend time with the ones we love, to say what we want, to worship as we please, to know that there are brave men and women

she spoke to other carol costello earlier. >> this instinct that caused me to walk right next to a buildingat if something was going to fall, i would be able to take cover. what you don't see in the footage is how i ran up to the building, and i tried to open the door, but that's a children's house, and there are no children here now, so it was locked, and i couldn't get in. it's pretty scary. >> tell us about how you stay safe. >> how i stay safe. i have a safe room, and any time there's an alarm, i run for the safe room. it is within my house. we have only about ten seconds to get there, so at this period of time i'm actually sleeping there. it's not my bedroom. it's my guest room. >> adelle raymer, one of the many civilians trapped in this conflict. [ male announcer ] with over 50 delicious choices of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yeah. one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strain

i'm carol costello. thanks for joining us. the new york stock exchange opening bell just rang moments ago. 800 facebook shares are free from lockup. alison kosik joins me from new york. explain what that means. >> reporter: lock-up essentially means these companies before they go public want to hold people back from selling their shares all at once, keep the price of those shares higher. as far as how facebook is faring as these lock-ups expire, if you believe in this theory of the economics 101, when you increase the supply of shares going up on the market the price usually goes down and other times when these lock-ups for facebook ended you saw the shares fall 6% and 4%. i'm seeing that theory thrown out the window because facebook shares are up % and then on monday saw them jump 4%. facebook shares have been finding their footing. the share price really has found to have found some balance. it's no consolation for those who bought it around $38 on ipo day. if you started working for facebook before it went public and you're

that's where we find carol costello, inside a diner in columbus. eporter: yeah, had to come inside a diner in celebration of your many diner visits, soledad. i'm in tommy's diner in columbus, ohio, on west broad street. one of the more famous diners in the city. sitting between me, tommy, who voted for barack obama and mike, who voted for mitt romney. and they're still talking. and they're still friends. how is that possible, mike? >> it's tough. it's tough. but after it's all said and done, we're still friends and we're hoping for a -- >> reporter: let me talk about your friendship. barack obama has been elected president, right? but there's still this bitter divide in the country. if you read social media you really see it. republicans who are unbelievably angry that barack obama got a second term. >> i think they need to put that behind them and work together. and that's what really ticks people off. they get all this bickering in washington. we don't need that. we need problems solved and solved now. get this deficit under control. that's a good

i'm carol costello. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with ashleigh banfield. >>> nice to see you, everyone. it is 11:00 on the east coast. 8:00 on the west coast. and it has come down to this. after thousands of speeches and hundreds of ads, after hundreds of millions of dollars bankrolling months and months of nonstop campaigning, the two main candidates for president in 2012 are tied. see for yourself. the final preelection cnn polling could literally not be closer. president obama supported by 47% of likely voters. mitt romney supported by -- excuse me 49% of likely voters. mitt romney supported by 49% of likely voters. other late polls look very, very similar. one shows them tied at 48%. if you look way down at the bottom there. the others give the president somewhere between a one and three-point edge, depending on which one you look at there. but margin of error sefrg. the race to reach the voters on election eve is just so competitive. mitt romney is racing from florida in the morning to new ham

i'm carol costello, thank you for joining me today. "cnn newsroom" continues right now with alina cho. >> hey, carol, thank you very much. i'm in for ashleigh banfield today. we are so glad you're with us today. and let's get started. first up, we just can't call it the petraeus scandal anymore. today, the u.s. general in charge of allied troops in afghanistan, the top commander john allen is himself the subject of a pentagon investigation of allegedly inappropriate communications with jill kelley. yes, that jill kelley, we're talking about the same tampa housewife whom david petraeus' then mistress paula broadwell apparently saw as a rival. a whole new chapter in a saga that since last friday has been one bombshell after another. and so far, all of them have something to do with kelley. she's a volunteer military liaison at the air force base, home of the u.s. central command in tampa, florida. kelley complained to the fbi last spring when paula broadwell was having an affair with petraeus allegedly harassed her with jealous e-mails. p

i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me today. cnn "newsroom" continues right now with ashleigh banfield. >> thank you, carol. so nice to see you. and nice to see you, everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. it's 11:00 on the east coast, 8:00 a.m. on the west coast. and leave it to congress to engineer what they call a solution that sets up an even bigger crisis. the so-called fiscal cliff that's now only 52 days away was supposed to be just a threat. an incentive for lawmakers to get their gear on and make some tough choices a year ago. well, now those choices are going to fall to a newly re-elected president, and a lame duck congress. and the prospects? well, the president plans to talk about those prospects in his first public post election comments scheduled for about two hours from now at the white house, and that's exactly where we have positioned cnn's brianna keilar standing in the wind and waiting for the words. what are we expecting to hear? are we expecting to hear specifics and talk about the fiscal cliff or just about a kum b

i'm carol costello. we continue right now with ashleigh banfield. >> nice to have you with us. it's 11:00 on the east coast and 8:00 on the west coast. the secret is out. multiple marriages may be on the line and a city that thought it couldn't be shocked, that would be washington, is near speechless over the petraeus affair. i said near speechless. lawmakers with oversight duties over national security, they are not speechless. they want to know why they didn't know the fbi had discovered the director of the cia was having a fling with his married biographer. he's on the left, she's on the right. and today we know the number two republican in the house, majority leader eric cantor, was tipped off to the matter late last month. but officially the white house itself was not told until last tuesday. election day. after the case had been closed. it's now been almost 72 hours since the whole world learned of the downfall of the rock star four-star general turned he is pea naj chief. the affair itself with a hard driving west point grad named paula broadwell, the fbi probe of it whi